Sometimes piano students shy away from learning music facts because they see them as rules they have to follow. Teaching music facts in a way that is interesting to kids offers creative perspective to children in piano lessons. This is important so they dont fall into the trap of slavery to music rules to be good students, without learning to play creatively; or, so they dont go to the other extreme and ignore learning musical facts altogether.

The musical symbol called a fermata, for example, means to pause. Its kind of like stopping at a traffic light. In print it looks like a birds eye, but this analogy doesnt really help students in piano know what to do when they see one. Young students will remember that this musical symbol reminds them of a birds eye, but they dont remember what to do. Fermata is the Italian word for Stop. When the fermata is placed over a note it means to pause or stop on that note, and then resume the normal tempo.

If you think of the fermata as a musical stoplight, imagine you are traveling along in the music at a moderate to lively speed when you suddenly come to a note with a stop light over it that is red. What do you do? Dont park your care and get out! Dont run the red light! Just wait at the intersection with the car running until the light turns green, and then resume your musical journey at your previous moderate to lively tempo. The idea of a fermata is to create anticipation in the music, or a feeling that the melody is coming again, but you have to be a little patient and wait for it. This creative technique adds interest to the music that kind of teases the listeners ear.

Now its true that as a parent who may find red stoplights more that just a little annoying, this explanation might sound disingenuous. But I guarantee its a creative idea that will work for your piano student. And who knows, when your piano student becomes a driver they may view stoplights as just fermatas there to make their journey more interesting! Youll be making the world a better place.

Cynthia VanLandingham

Cynthia VanLandingham's Piano Adventure Bears Music Education Resources create an exciting musical adventure for children ages 5 to 11. Visit PianoAdventureBears.com for free samples of her Piano Adventure Story Books and piano resources for children. She is also the author of The Wonder Guide to Creativity.

Cynthia has been teaching piano in Tallahassee, Florida for 20 years and is the owner of TallyPiano & Keyboard Studios. She is a member of the American College of Musicians National Guild of Piano Teachers, the President of TallyPiano Enterprises, LLC, and a graduate of the Florida State University College of Education. Visit her website at TallyPiano.com to download her original, uplifting piano compositions, including "The Potter's Wheel." While you're there subscribe to her free internet newsletter, Piano Matters, and read the Wonder Guide to Creativity Online.

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